Tretyakov Pavel Mikhailovich - biography. Founder of the Tretyakov Gallery Entrepreneur Patron of the Arts

Tretyakov Pavel Mikhailovich

My idea from a very young age was to make money so that what I got from society would be returned to society in some useful institutions.

P. M. Tretyakov

Art plays an important role in human life. Painting and sculpture, music and architecture, theater and cinema surround us, bringing “reasonable, good, eternal”, making our life spiritual and moral.

Painting is one of the brightest facets of art. Millions of paintings are on display in museums and exhibition halls and adorn private collections. Over the centuries, art funds have been formed; bit by bit, everything that belongs to all of humanity today has been collected.

But who created art galleries? Who collected the paintings? Whose funds were used to purchase masterpieces of painting? History has preserved for us the names of thousands of people who were not alien to such concepts as patronage, charity, and selflessness. One of them was Russian Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov.

Tretyakov Pavel Mikhailovich - entrepreneur, philanthropist, collector, philanthropist. Hereditary honorary citizen (1856), commerce advisor (1880), honorary citizen of Moscow (1897). Member of the Moscow branch of the Council of Trade and Manufactures (1868–1889). Full member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1893). Member of the Russian Musical Society (1860–1898), member of the council of the Moscow Art Society (1872–1894).

The Tretyakovs came from an old but poor merchant family, dating back to 1646. The great-grandfather of Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov and his brother Sergei Mikhailovich - Elisha Martynovich - arrived in Moscow from the city of Maly Yaroslavets in 1774 as a seventy-year-old man with his wife and two sons - Zakhar and Osip. Grandfather - Zakhar Eliseevich - was a Moscow merchant of the 3rd guild. In 1828, he opened an establishment in Moscow for dyeing and starching canvas and canvas. P. M. Tretyakov’s father, Mikhail Zakharovich (1801–1850), a Moscow merchant of the 2nd guild, managed to expand the family business. He owned five shops in the Old Rows on Red Square, in which linen was traded, and in 1846 he bought and in 1847 rebuilt “commercial, national, noble and family baths for men and women” in the Yakimansk part of Moscow. But the Tretyakov business reached truly great proportions with the next generation. Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov inherited his father's business in the first half of the 1850s. Trading house "P. and S. Tretyakov brothers and V. Konshin” appeared in Moscow in 1860. Tretyakov's heirs continued their commercial and industrial activities. They owned a flax weaving and flax spinning factory in Kostroma.

Mikhail Zakharovich, the collector’s father, showed great energy and ability in trade. In 1831, he married Alexandra Danilovna Borisova, the daughter of a large merchant exporting lard to England. At first, the father considered his daughter’s marriage unequal, but time showed that Danila Borisov’s son-in-law turned out to be very businesslike and successful. In 1832, the young couple had their first child, Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, and in 1834, Sergei Mikhailovich.

The lifestyle of all the Tretyakovs was the most patriarchal; interests rarely extended beyond the shop, home and church. From childhood, children were taught to work, brought up in strictness, and spending on “trifles” was not allowed. But reading books was encouraged in every possible way.

From a very young age, Pavel Mikhailovich served as a boy in a shop. There he had to not only run errands, call in customers and help serve them, but also take out the slop and sweep the floors. Of course, a lot has changed since then, and it is completely impossible to imagine the son of some famous entrepreneur doing such things. However, the very principle of getting used to work from an early age is hardly outdated. In any case, already in his mature years, P. M. Tretyakov said more than once: “I work because I cannot help but work,” “Idleness is the mother of vices, labor feeds a person, but laziness spoils.”

At the age of 13, Tretyakov moved from the shop to his father’s office, where he learned to keep trade books and work with wholesale customers. It should be noted that Mikhail Zakharovich insisted that his sons, both in the shop and in the office, be treated the same as ordinary employees. Such an upbringing not only allowed Pavel Mikhailovich to familiarize himself in detail with all the stages of the business that he was to inherit, but also instilled respect for all people who honestly earned their bread. Instructing his children, he said: “Every profession should provide a means of living. Every profession is honorable if conducted honestly. An honest shoemaker, hardworking and skilled in his craft, is better than a dishonest or untalented scientist.” This complete absence of snobbery was one of the most important rules of doing business in the circle to which P. M. Tretyakov belonged.

Pavel Mikhailovich's father was a man of poor health and died in 1850 at the age of forty-nine. According to the will, wife Alexandra Danilovna should have managed all affairs until the 25th birthday of the youngest son, Sergei, raised the sons of Pavel and Sergei until adulthood, not been excluded from trade and from their class, and given them a decent education.

The brothers, who inherited their father’s business, began to develop operations for the purchase of flax, its processing and sale of textiles. In 1864, they founded the famous New Kostroma Linen Manufactory, built several flax processing factories in Kostroma, and two years later established the famous Greater Kostroma Linen Manufactory Partnership with a capital of 270 thousand rubles in gold.

Flax in Russia has always been considered an indigenous Russian product. Slavophile economists always praised flax and contrasted it with “foreign” American cotton. The Tretyakov brothers' manufactory initially had only one steam engine and 22 looms. But by the end of the century it was producing more yarn than the flax mills of Sweden, Holland and Denmark combined. The fabrics of the Kostroma manufactory received the Grand Prix at the world exhibitions in Paris in 1900 and Turin in 1911, while domestic awards numbered in the dozens. This production enterprise still exists in Kostroma today. It produces high-quality jacquard, printed, plain-dyed and variegated linen products (some even with openwork and embroidery), known not only in Russia, but also far beyond its borders.

It should be noted that Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov spent about one and a half million rubles on organizing an art gallery in Moscow. He received over a third of this amount as profit from the New Kostroma Linen Manufactory. Thus, Kostroma textile workers contributed to the creation of a national treasury - the famous Tretyakov Gallery. A school, a hospital, a maternity hospital, a nursing home, a nursery and a consumer society were created at the factory of the Novo-Kostroma Linen Manufactory Partnership. The Tretyakov factory was considered one of the most advanced and well-equipped factories in Russia at that time. Pavel Mikhailovich also cared about improving the living conditions of the workers.

Expanding their father's business, the Tretyakov brothers also built paper spinning factories, which employed about 5 thousand people.

The Tretyakovs' commercial and industrial affairs were very successful, but still this family was never considered one of the richest. Subsequently, successful business management allowed the brothers to spend considerable funds on charitable purposes, as well as collecting art collections. When creating his famous gallery, Pavel Mikhailovich spent huge amounts of money, especially for that time, perhaps somewhat to the detriment of the well-being of his own family. And he had a large family.

In 1865, Pavel Mikhailovich married Vera Nikolaevna, née Mamontova, who was 13 years younger than her husband. She was the cousin of the famous Russian entrepreneur, industrialist and philanthropist, founder of the Moscow Private Opera, Savva Ivanovich Mamontov, and the great aunt of Vera Mamontova, who became the model for V. A. Serov’s painting “Girl with Peaches” (1887). The marriage produced six children - two boys and four girls. Relationships in the family were happy, all the children were friends with each other. The eldest Vera and Sasha were the same age, then came Lyuba and Misha, later, four years after Misha, Masha was born, and after her the last one was Vanechka, everyone’s favorite. Alas, Misha was born sick and was incompetent. Great grief befell the Tretyakov family in 1887, when eight-year-old Vanya died in three days from scarlet fever complicated by meningitis. For Pavel Mikhailovich, this was the collapse of all hopes: for continuation of the family, continuation of artistic and any other activity.

Parents preferred to educate their daughters at home. The father was an example of hard work for the girls, he developed a taste for good painting, and Vera Nikolaevna awarded her daughters with musical abilities. There were two Bechstein concert grand pianos in the hall. Vera, Sasha, Lyuba and Masha were constantly involved in music, but Vera was especially capable. A family friend, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, even advised her to enter the conservatory, but her father, being a supporter of strict education, did not allow her to do this.

I. S. Turgenev, composers N. G. Rubinstein and P. I. Tchaikovsky, artists I. E. Repin, V. I. Surikov, V. D. Polenov, V. M. Vasnetsov, V. G. Perov, I. N. Kramskoy. The family was related to some of them: P.I. Tchaikovsky’s brother Anatoly was married to Pavel Mikhailovich’s niece; the wife of the artist V.D. Polenov, N.V. Yakunchikova, was the niece of Vera Nikolaevna.

Pavel Mikhailovich, himself a fourth-generation merchant, wanted his daughters to marry only merchants. But it so happened that the eldest of the daughters, Vera, fell in love with the talented pianist Alexander Ziloti, cousin of the composer S. V. Rachmaninov. Knowing that her father might not give his blessing to marry a musician, Vera was very nervous and even fell ill. When Pavel Mikhailovich saw his daughter’s suffering, all his theories regarding the party for his daughters went to hell. The parents came to Vera and said: “We will give it to you, just don’t get sick.” The marriage of Vera Tretyakova and Alexander Ziloti took place in February 1887. Alexandra’s husband was the doctor and collector Sergei Botkin. His brother Alexander, a doctor, then a hydrographer and explorer of the North, married Masha. In May 1894, Lyuba married the artist Nikolai Gritsenko. Having been widowed in 1900, Lyubov Pavlovna married for the second time the famous Lev Bakst, a painter and graphic artist, creator of costumes and sets for Diaghilev’s performances in Paris. Pavel Mikhailovich had enough breadth of views to appreciate all these young people.

The following fact can testify to the peculiarities of Pavel Tretyakov’s upbringing of his daughters. In 1893, Pavel Mikhailovich wrote a very large, serious letter to his daughter Alexandra, in which he explained his idea of ​​​​parental duty: “Money is a bad thing, causing abnormal relationships. It is obligatory for parents to provide their children with upbringing and education, and not necessarily provision.” In the same letter there were the following words: “My idea from a very young age was to make money so that what was acquired from society would also be returned to society (the people) in some useful institutions; This thought has not left me all my life.”

This is how his daughter, Alexandra Pavlovna Botkina, described Tretyakov’s appearance:

“Dry, thin-boned, tall, Pavel Mikhailovich immediately became small when he sat down - his legs were so long. The eyes under thick, protruding eyebrows, although not black but brown, seemed like coals.

They said that when Pavel Mikhailovich was angry, he would “become dusty,” his eyes would throw sparks, his eyebrows would stand on end, and his face would turn red. They said that he was shaking, holding the foreman by the collar, when two poorly smeared glasses in the Gallery ceiling fell down and could have scratched the paintings.

Pavel Mikhailovich's hands, with long fingers, were beautiful. His hair was dark brown, but on his mustache and beard it was lighter than on his head.

He was always dressed in a double-breasted frock coat, a shirt with a turn-down collar and a white cambric tie with a bow. The boots were invariably with square toes and soft tops that were hidden by trousers. Only in the hot summer did he dress in a white canvas or comb suit.

The autumn drape coat was always of the same style. How many years he wore the same coat and how often he ordered a new one never occurred to us. It seemed that he spent his entire life wearing the same coat, the same wide-brimmed felt hat. I haven't seen another one on him. In the summer he always wore a Panama hat of the same style. He was inseparable from his clothes."

From a young age, Pavel Tretyakov was very fond of theater, music, and libraries. His first purchases of works of art date back to the mid-1850s. A trip to St. Petersburg in 1852 left an indelible impression on him for the rest of his life. He visited the Hermitage for the first time and simply fell in love with painting. Fascinated by art, Tretyakov began collecting an art collection of national Russian painting in 1854. His first acquisitions - about ten graphic sheets of old Dutch masters - were bought at the "ruin" near the Sukharev Tower. These drawings decorated his living rooms until Tretyakov’s death.

A few words about the famous “ruins on Sukharevka”. They arose after the War of 1812. Returning to their hometown, Muscovites began to look for their property plundered during the war. At this time, an order from Governor General Rostopchin appeared, which declared that “all things, no matter where they are taken from, are the inalienable property of the one who currently owns them,” and that “any owner can sell them, but only once a week, on Sunday, in only one place, namely: on the square opposite the Sukharevskaya Tower.”

You could find absolutely everything there: from stolen clothes to rare books and original works of art. This is what Vladimir Gilyarovsky writes in his book “Moscow and Muscovites”: “I usually sat to the right of the entrance, by the window, at the master’s table with Grigoriev and talked with him for hours. Every now and then his son, a first-grader at school, would run up to the table, enthusiastically show him the book he had bought on the square (he was fond of “travelling”), take the money and quickly disappear to appear with a new book. This same Grigoriev (the owner of the local tavern) had a large, beautiful library, which he compiled exclusively in Sukharevka.”

“There was an interesting case. A lady approaches the tent of an antique dealer, looks at the paintings for a long time and stops at one with the inscription: “I. Repin”; There is a label on it: ten rubles.

- Here's ten rubles for you. I take the picture. But if it's not real, I'll bring it back. I’ll be at a friend’s place where Repin is having lunch today, and I’ll show him.

The lady brings the painting to her friends and shows it to I. E. Repin. He laughs. He asks for pen and ink and signs at the bottom of the painting: “This is not Repin. I. Repin.” This painting again found its way to Sukharevka and was sold thanks to Repin’s autograph for one hundred rubles.” This is also a quote from V. Gilyarovsky.

They said that even an original by Rembrandt could be found among the rubbish on Sukharevka. But, not having at first experience and versatile knowledge in the field of art and guided by a deep patriotic feeling, Tretyakov decided to focus on collecting works by contemporary Russian artists. It is known that Pavel Mikhailovich did not have any special artistic education. Nevertheless, he bought works by his still little-known but talented contemporaries. Moreover, he, as a rule, acquired the most significant works from one or another master. V. G. Khudyakov’s painting “Skirmish with Finnish Smugglers” (1853) was one of the first that Tretyakov appeared in 1856. This year is considered the time of birth of the Tretyakov Gallery. This was followed by the purchase of works by I. P. Trutnev, A. K. Savrasov, K. A. Trutovsky, F. A. Bruni, L. F. Lagorio and others. Knowing about the works of K. P. Bryullov, located in Italy, Tretyakov asked to purchase his portrait from the heirs of the archaeologist M. Lanci. Thus, in 1860, the first work of the “great Charles” appeared in the collection - “Portrait of the archaeologist M. Lanci” (1851). Thus, Tretyakov began many years of selfless collecting work, modest, not designed for advertising and praise. It can be said that from the very beginning of collecting he had a clear idea of ​​the purpose of his work.

Over the 42 years of his collecting, Pavel Mikhailovich met and communicated with a huge number of people. His first friend was his brother Sergei Mikhailovich. Brothers of the same age grew and developed together. Their characters were completely different, but that is why they successfully complemented each other. In trade matters they certainly relied on each other, in artistic matters they also often acted together. The brothers jointly bought Vereshchagin’s Tashkent collection; there were also individual cases when Pavel Mikhailovich advised Sergei Mikhailovich to buy good things that, for some reason, he himself could not buy at that moment. These were the paintings: Vasilyev - “In the Crimean Mountains”, Perov - “Birdcatcher”, Kuindzhi - “Ukrainian Night”, Bronnikov - “Consecration of the Herma”, Guna - “Gotcha”. It is not known how Pavel Mikhailovich met his brother’s desire to collect paintings by foreign artists, but over time he became very interested in these acquisitions. Sergei Mikhailovich's collection turned out to be of exceptional quality. He bought, changed, improved. When he died in 1892, 84 works by 52 19th-century artists, mostly French masters, remained.

Many letters from Sergei Mikhailovich to his brother have been preserved, where he reported on purchases and meetings, about the affairs of the factory (about the transition to an eight-hour working day, about installing electricity, etc.). He also wrote about paintings by Russian artists. Unfortunately, there are few letters from Pavel Mikhailovich. Here's one of them.

“Dear brother! There is no way I can take part in the Academic Commission; I am so busy that you cannot imagine, without seeing closely my constant life, I am busy not only with business, but with two different social duties, which I still cannot fulfill as I would like. For example, it is impossible to conclude a factory balance sheet without me visiting the factory, and I cannot go there before the end of this month. I have never been to St. Petersburg in the summer due to lack of time. In the fall I can be free, then I strive to leave. You live in St. Petersburg and you will be more useful to the Commission than I am.

Lhermitte's pastels were received, of which "Spring" with figures, wonderful and completely sufficient. Extra copies only spoil the impression. It would be another matter if there was another black specimen like the former large ones at the last exhibition. Congratulations on the birthday girl. I wish you all the best.

By this time, collecting in Russia had ceased to be a purely noble occupation. The initiative, as in many other areas, here passed to the enlightened circles of the merchants and intelligentsia. The very first art gallery was founded by a certain Svinin; his gallery, called the “Russian Museum,” existed from 1819 to 1839, and was subsequently sold at auction. It should be mentioned that the most significant artistic treasures in pre-revolutionary Russia were collected by merchant circles, whose representatives spared no expense in purchasing works of art. However, the activities of most merchants in the field of collecting were largely determined by fashion. The paintings they collected served, like those of the nobles, only to decorate their own apartments. The collections were collected by the Botkin brothers, K. T. Soldatenkov, F. I. Pryanishnikov, V. A. Kokorev, G. I. Khludov, I. I. Chetverikov, M. M. Zaitsevsky, V. S. Lepeshkin, P. Obraztsov , later - the Shchukin brothers, I. A. Morozov, S. I. Mamontov and others. Tretyakov, like them, came from a merchant environment and remained a merchant until the end of his days: together with his brother, Sergei Mikhailovich, he owned a manufacturing factory in Kostroma, and this gave him the means for the true work of his life - collecting.

By the way, Pavel Mikhailovich’s fortune was small compared to the famous rich people of that time. Therefore, when buying paintings for the gallery, he, as a rule, bargained. Thus, in a letter to the Russian artist V. Stasov, Tretyakov wrote: “I am not a concessionaire, not a contractor, I have in my care a school for the deaf and dumb and am obliged to continue what I started - collecting Russian paintings - that’s why I am forced to put the money issue in the foreground.”

Pavel Mikhailovich did not pursue any selfish goals. He was seized by the idea of ​​creating a museum of national painting. In his will, drawn up in 1860, just four years after purchasing the first paintings, he wrote: “For me, who truly and ardently loves painting, there can be no better desire than to lay the foundation for a public, accessible repository of fine arts for all, which will bring benefit to many , everyone's pleasure."

Tretyakov’s conviction, his faith in his work seem surprising if we remember that he laid the foundations of the gallery at a time when the Russian school of painting, as an original and significant phenomenon, only dimly loomed in the shadow cast by the great artistic tradition of the West, the powerful ancient Russian art was half-forgotten, the works of Russian artists are scattered in private collections, at home and abroad, when there was no Repin, no Surikov, no Serov, no Levitan, those paintings of theirs, without which it is now impossible to imagine Russian art. This was the time of the formation of democratic art, the time of the birth of a new school of Russian painting. The principles that guided Tretyakov in his activities were in close connection with the general rise of the people's liberation movement in Russia, and that is why the gallery played such an outstanding organizing role in the development of Russian art. Artists and art historians have long noted that “if P. M. Tretyakov had not appeared in his time, if he had not given himself entirely to a big idea, if he had not begun to piece together Russian Art, his fate would have been different: perhaps we would not have known “Boyaryna Morozova”, not “The Procession…”, not all those large and small paintings that now adorn the famous State Tretyakov Gallery.” (M. Nesterov). Or: “...Without his help, Russian painting would never have taken an open and free path, since Tretyakov was the only one (or almost the only one) who supported everything that was new, fresh and practical in Russian art” (A. Benois) .

There were few real amateurs who would take an active part in the fate of young artists in old Moscow. They basically limited themselves to buying paintings for their galleries, and they tried to buy paintings cheaper. Unlike them, Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov was a real philanthropist. His visit to the artists was always considered an exciting event, and not without trepidation, all of them, venerable and beginners, waited from Tretyakov for his quiet: “I ask you to consider the painting for me,” which was tantamount to public recognition for everyone. In 1877, I. E. Repin wrote to P. M. Tretyakov regarding his painting “Protodeacon”: “I confess to you frankly that if I sell it, then only into your hands, into your gallery, for, I say without flattery, I I consider it a great honor to see my things there.” Artists often made concessions to Tretyakov (he never bought without bargaining) and lowered their prices for him, thereby providing all possible support for his endeavor. And the benefit here was mutual. Pavel Mikhailovich not only bought paintings, but also ordered them, thus supporting the artists both morally and financially, which gave them the opportunity not to depend on the tastes of the market.

In the activities of Tretyakov the collector, attention can be traced primarily to the work of contemporary artists of the realistic movement of the mid and second half of the 19th century - the Wanderers, representatives of the democratic wing of the Russian school, which determined the originality of the gallery’s collection, the influence of this collection on the development of realistic art, its progressive, revolutionizing social - educational impact. But in the 1860s, when the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions did not yet exist, Tretyakov bought paintings from the official academic school, and from the late 80s - works by M. V. Nesterov, K. A. Korovin, V. A. Serov and others. At the same time, Tretyakov began collecting graphics, and in the 90s - icons.

Tretyakov had unmistakable taste. He was not afraid to buy works by young, still unknown artists. The peculiarities of Pavel Mikhailovich’s collecting are also evidenced by the fact that many of the works for the gallery were completed according to his own order. And neither then nor today do these works disappoint the most demanding connoisseurs of Russian art either with their problems or with their artistic merits. He bought works, even if very strong and respected authorities like L.N. Tolstoy, who did not recognize the religious painting of V.M. Vasnetsov, opposed it. He even bought paintings that were banned for public viewing by the tsarist authorities.

One of these paintings was “Rural Procession at Easter” by V. G. Perov. Against the backdrop of a gloomy village landscape, a discordant drunken procession with images and banners unfolds after the festive Easter service. With harsh realism, Perov conveys not so much the physical, but the spiritual squalor of these people. The picture made a devastating impression on contemporaries with the contrast between the meaning of the ritual and the almost animal state to which a person can descend. “Rural Procession at Easter” provoked protest from official criticism and the church; the painting was removed from the exhibition of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts and prohibited from display and reproduction. The artist V. G. Khudyakov wrote to Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, who bought it: “... there are rumors that it’s supposedly from St. The Synod will soon ask, on what basis do you buy such immoral paintings and exhibit them to the public?”

Pavel Mikhailovich acquired paintings at exhibitions and directly from artists’ studios, sometimes he bought entire collections: in 1874 he acquired the Turkestan series of V.V. Vereshchagin (13 paintings, 133 drawings and 81 sketches), in 1880 - his Indian series (78 sketches). The Tretyakov collection included over 80 sketches by A. A. Ivanov. In 1885, Tretyakov bought 102 sketches by V. D. Polenov, completed by the artist during his travels through Turkey, Egypt, Syria and Palestine. From V. M. Vasnetsov, Pavel Mikhailovich acquired a collection of sketches made during the period of work on the paintings in the Kiev Vladimir Cathedral. The most complete and best works in his collection were represented by V. G. Perov, I. N. Kramskoy, I. E. Repin, V. I. Surikov, I. I. Levitan, V. A. Serov. Along the way, the gallery was replenished with works of artists of the 18th – first half of the 19th centuries and monuments of ancient Russian painting. This heroic period of Russian art can be understood, felt and studied in Moscow, in the Tretyakov Gallery, as nowhere else.

All artists, young and already famous, dreamed that their painting would hang in the Tretyakov Gallery, because the very fact of Pavel Mikhailovich’s purchase of the painting was an act of public recognition of the artist’s talent. Thus, one amazing person was able to influence all Russian pictorial art and become a spokesman for Russian public opinion.

Tretyakov’s enormous historical merit is his unshakable faith in the triumph of the Russian national school of painting, a faith that arose in the late 50s of the 19th century and carried through his entire life, through all the difficulties and trials. It is safe to say that in the triumph of Russian painting that came at the end of the 19th century, P. M. Tretyakov’s personal merit was exceptionally great and invaluable.

Evidence of this ardent faith of his is preserved in Pavel Mikhailovich’s letters. Here's one of them. In a letter to the artist Rizzoni dated February 18, 1865, he wrote: “In my last letter to you, my expression may seem incomprehensible: “Then we would talk with non-believers” - I will explain it to you: many positively do not want to believe in the good future of Russian art and they assure that if sometimes one of our artists writes a good thing, it is somehow by accident, and that he will then increase the number of mediocrities. You know, I have a different opinion, otherwise I would not have collected a collection of Russian paintings, but sometimes I could not help but agree with the facts presented; and every success, every step forward is very dear to me, and I would be very happy if I waited for a holiday on our street.” And about a month later, returning to the same thought, Tretyakov wrote: “I somehow involuntarily believe in my hope: our Russian school will not be the last - it was indeed a cloudy time, and for quite a long time, but now the fog is clearing.”

This faith of Tretyakov was not a blind premonition; it was based on thoughtful observation of the development of Russian painting, on a deep, subtle understanding of national ideals being formed on a democratic basis.

So, back in 1857, Pavel Mikhailovich wrote to the landscape artist A.G. Goravsky: “About my landscape, I humbly ask you to leave it and write me a new one someday instead. I don’t need rich nature, no magnificent composition, no spectacular lighting, no miracles.” Instead, Tretyakov asked to depict simple nature, even the most inconspicuous, “so that there is truth in it, poetry, and there can be poetry in everything, this is the work of the artist.” This note expresses the same aesthetic principle of the gallery’s formation, which arose as a result of thinking through the ways of developing Russian national painting. P. M. Tretyakov guessed its progressive tendencies long before the appearance of Savrasov’s painting “The Rooks Have Arrived”, the landscapes of Vasiliev, Levitan, Serov, Ostroukhov and Nesterov - artists who managed to convey the poetry and charm inherent in it in a truthful depiction of the nature of Russia.

Pavel Mikhailovich first entrusted the idea of ​​​​creating a national, or folk, gallery to the artist V. G. Khudyakov and outlined it with utmost precision in a testamentary letter written in Warsaw on May 17 (29), 1860, during his first trip abroad.

"Letter of Testament

According to the Commercial Agreement of our company, we each had to put an envelope in the cash chest of our office, in which the desire should be indicated what to do in the event of the death of the person who left the envelope with his capital located in the company, or some other order.

I wanted to make an order in the event of my death to conclude a balance sheet by the 3rd of April this year, 1860, but I could not manage to do it before my departure, which is why I am now writing in Warsaw.

Since I have very little time, I hope to clearly express my desire, but as God willing, only my desire is sincere and unconditional.

From the copy of the balance sheet attached here it is clear that my capital in the company is one hundred and ninety-three thousand two hundred and twenty-seven rubles, and the entire capital with real estate and cash register, which are under the control of my brother Sergei Mikhailovich, is two hundred and sixty-six thousand one hundred and eighty-six rubles. As long as I can remember here without books, after my father I was left with all my capital and real estate worth one hundred and eight thousand rubles. silver; I wish this capital to be equally divided between the brother and sisters. The capital is one hundred and fifty thousand rubles. I bequeath silver to the establishment of an art museum or public art gallery in Moscow and ask my dear brothers Sergei Mikhailovich and Vladimir Dmitrievich and my sisters Elizaveta, Sofia and Nadezhda to certainly fulfill my request; but how to do it, it will be necessary to consult with the intelligent and experienced, that is, those who know and understand art and who would understand the importance of establishing such an institution and would sympathize with it. By the way, I’m telling you my plan.

I would think, firstly, to acquire (I forgot to mention that I would like to leave the national gallery, that is, consisting of paintings by Russian artists) the F. I. Pryanishnikov gallery as advantageously as possible; as far as I know, he will give it up for a public gallery, but will use all possible efforts to acquire it in the most profitable way. This purchase should cost, according to my assumption, about fifty thousand rubles. To this collection add my paintings by Russian artists: Lagorio, Khudyakov, Lebedev, Sternberg, Shebuev, Sokolov, Klodt, Savrasov, Goravsky and others that will be found worthy. Then convey my request - to all our Moscow lovers - to help create a gallery, by donating from each one a painting by a Russian artist, or a foreign one, because at the gallery of Russian artists it is possible to set up a gallery of famous foreign artists.

For now, for this entire gallery, rent a decent room in a good and convenient place in the City, decorate the rooms cleanly, convenient for paintings, but without the slightest luxury, because this room should only be temporary.

At the gallery, have one overseer for a salary or from amateurs without a salary, that is, free of charge, but in any case conscientious, and have one or two watchmen. Heating must be the owner of the house; there can be no lighting; So, apart from paying the watchmen, there can be no expenses.

Entrance to the public without distinction is open with a fee of 10 to 15 kopecks. silver Everyone is allowed to copy free of charge.

From the entrance fee, no matter how cold our public is to artistic productions, with the exception of paying for the apartment and the guards, there must certainly be some amount left, which must be deposited in the reserve capital of the gallery and increased with interest as much as possible profitably.

Of the amount bequeathed by me, 150,000 rubles, as I assume, will be paid for the Pryanishnikov gallery, for the arrangement of the premises, for the apartment for the first time; So, since then there will still be quite a significant capital left, I would like a society of art lovers to be formed, but private, not from the government, and most importantly, without bureaucracy. Society must accept the remainder of the capital and ensure that its increase in interest is as profitable as possible. The society receives an entrance fee and makes the necessary expenses, but not otherwise than with the consent of the entire society. Some paintings, which by unanimous decision of the society are found unworthy to be in the gallery, are sold, and the money received for them also goes to the society's cash desk.

All decisions of society are made by voting.

Members of the society are selected without payment, that is, without their contribution of any amount, because members must be selected by true amateurs from all classes, but not by capital or importance in society, but by their knowledge and understanding of the fine arts or out of true sympathy for them. It is very useful to choose conscientious artists as members.

From the capital of the society it should acquire all especially wonderful, rare works of Russian artists, no matter what time they were. But try to acquire profitably and, again, with the general consent of all members.

The society must draw up a charter by which it could be guided and which would be approved by the government, but without any interference in the affairs and orders of the society.

When the Moscow gallery acquires quite a few truly remarkable works through purchases and, I dare to hope, at least I assume so, if I’m not completely sure, through donations from other true lovers, even, perhaps, entire galleries will move from private homes to our proposed national or people’s gallery , then at the beginning of the gallery, perhaps some artists will bring her some of their wonderful works as a gift (not all wonderful works should be sold, as was said above), then with the remaining capital, buy a decent house for the gallery, set up a It is a room convenient for things with good lighting, but without luxury, because luxurious decoration will not be useful; on the contrary, it will be unprofitable for artistic works.

Then, if there is any amount left, then use it and any other income of the society to purchase, as said above, truly wonderful works of art.

Most of all, I address my request to my brother Sergei; I ask you to delve into the meaning of my desire, not to ridicule it, to understand that for someone who delivers neither wife nor children and leaves his mother, brother and sister, completely wealthy, for me, who truly and ardently loves painting, there can be no better desire than to make a beginning a public, accessible repository of fine arts that will bring benefit to many and pleasure to all.

Then, if this assumption comes true, then I ask brother Sergei to be a member of the society and take care of fulfilling all my desires regarding the structure of society.

If, in the event of my death, after this letter a second letter is presented, but something changes in it against this, then I ask you to act in accordance with the last one.

From the above capital 266,180 rubles, excluding inherited capital 108,000 rubles. and to the device n. gallery 150,000 rubles, then it will remain 8180 rubles. I ask you to use this capital and what is again acquired by trade with my capital to marry off poor brides to respectable people.

I wish for nothing more, I ask everyone whom I have sinned against, whom I have offended, to forgive me and not to condemn my order; Therefore, there will be enough condemning people besides you, then at least you, dear to me, remain on my side.

The relatives did not have to fulfill this will. Pavel Mikhailovich himself realized his dream - he created a people's art gallery.

Interesting statements by P. M. Tretyakov can also be found in correspondence with Vereshchagin regarding the depiction of the contemporary Russian-Turkish War of 1877–1878 for the independence of Bulgaria from Turkey, a war in which Russia took the side of Bulgaria. Having learned from Stasov that Vereshchagin was going to go to the front to paint a series of paintings about this war, P. M. Tretyakov wrote to Stasov: “Only maybe in the distant future the sacrifice made by the Russian people will be appreciated.” Tretyakov offered Vereshchagin to pay a large sum in advance for his work: “Strange as it may be to acquire a collection without knowing its contents, but Vereshchagin is such an artist that in this case you can rely on him, especially since by placing it in private hands, he will not be tied up.” choice of subjects and will probably be imbued with the spirit of the people’s sacrifice and the brilliant exploits of Russian soldiers and some individuals, thanks to which our cause burned out, despite the ineptitude of the leaders and the stupidity and meanness of many individuals.” And, moving on to Vereshchagin’s painting “Prisoners,” Pavel Mikhailovich notes that it “alone does not represent a page from the Bulgarian war, similar scenes can be in Afghanistan, and in many places; I look at it as a threshold to the collection.”

This letter delighted Stasov, who considered it historical in the matter of Russian art.

Vereshchagin had a different opinion: “As for your letter to V.V. Stasov about my painting you saw, it is obvious that you and I disagree a little in the assessment of my works and a lot in their direction. Before me, as before an artist, is War, and I beat it as hard as I have; Whether my blows are strong or effective is a question, a question of my talent, but I strike with a swing and without mercy. You, obviously, are interested not so much in the general idea of ​​war as in its particulars, for example, in this case, the “sacrifices of the Russian people”, the brilliant exploits of Russian soldiers and some individuals, therefore my picture, which you saw, seems to you worthy of being only "the threshold of a future collection." I consider this picture to be one of the most significant of all that I have made and have to be made. I admit, I am a little surprised how you, Pavel Mikhailovich, who, as it seemed to me, understood my Turkestan works, could expect to find in me both that worldview and that pliability that, obviously, is so dear to you ... "

In addition to collecting, Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov actively participated in charitable activities.

He was an honorary member of the Society of Art Lovers and the Musical Society from the day of their foundation, and contributed substantial sums, supporting all educational endeavors. He provided financial assistance to individual artists and the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, and since 1869 he was a member of the council of the Moscow Trusteeship for the Poor. He was also a member of the councils of the Moscow Commercial and Aleksandrovsky Commercial Schools. Pavel Mikhailovich bequeathed half of his funds to charitable purposes: for the construction of a shelter for widows, young children and unmarried daughters of deceased artists (built in 1909–1912 by the architect N. S. Kurdyukov in Lavrushinsky Lane), for distribution to workers and employees of his enterprises, as well as to finance the gallery. He took part in all donations to help the families of soldiers who died during the Crimean and Russian-Turkish (1877–1878) wars. P. M. Tretyakov scholarships were established at commercial schools - Moscow and Aleksandrovsky.

Pavel Mikhailovich never refused financial assistance to artists and other petitioners; he carefully took care of the financial affairs of the painters, who entrusted their savings to him without fear. He repeatedly lent money to his good advisor and consultant I.N. Kramskoy, selflessly helped V.G. Khudyakov, K.A. Trutovsky, M.K. Klodt and many others.

Brothers Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov founded the Arnold-Tretyakov School for the Deaf and Dumb in Moscow. Pavel Mikhailovich took his brainchild very seriously. The history of this huge secondary and higher educational institution began like a fairy tale. There lived a mathematics teacher named Arnold in St. Petersburg. He had a son. The boy, when he was two years old, fell and hurt his head, causing him to become completely deaf in one ear and almost unable to hear in the other. His father himself worked diligently with him so that he would not lose his speech. Young Arnold was educated abroad, returned to Russia and entered the bureaucratic service. Having received a small inheritance after the death of his father, he decided to use it for the benefit of his own kind - the deaf and deaf-mute. He opened a small school, but in St. Petersburg there was already a state school, where wealthy people sent their deaf-mute children for education and upbringing for a good fee. Poor people turned to Arnold, and his business was not going well. Then he decided to move to Moscow, where at that time there was no such school. In 1850, he bought two dachas in Khimki and settled in them with his twelve students. But he soon went bankrupt, and he had to ask for help from philanthropists. This is how he reached the Moscow mayor, Alexander Alekseevich Shcherbatov. He brought Arnold together with P. M. Tretyakov and D. P. Botkin. These, in turn, attracted several businessmen. In 1863, a trustee committee was founded.

In 1869, the trustee committee was approved, received a charter, and the school was given the name Arnoldovsky. At first, live speech classes for the deaf-mute were organized quite primitively, and Pavel Mikhailovich, at his own expense, sent director D.K. Organov abroad to familiarize himself with the way things are done in similar schools. In addition to general education subjects, children were also taught crafts. The school, or, as it was popularly called, the institution for the deaf and dumb, received ownership of a large stone house with a huge garden, where 156 students studied and lived, and in the early 1890s, Pavel Mikhailovich built a hospital with 32 beds at his own expense.

Guardianship of the school, which began in the 60s, continued throughout Pavel Mikhailovich’s life and after his death. In his will, Pavel Mikhailovich provided huge capital for a school for the deaf and dumb. Boys and girls were raised until the age of 16 and entered life after receiving a profession. Tretyakov selected the best teachers, became familiar with teaching methods, and made sure that the students were well fed and clothed. On every visit to the school, he visited classrooms and workshops during class hours, and was always present at exams.

In 1871, on the initiative of Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov, a passage was built between Nikolskaya Street and Teatralny Proezd on the site of a previously existing passage, but built up in the 18th century. On the site acquired by the Tretyakovs specifically for the construction of a passage, the architect A. S. Kaminsky in 1870–1871 erected two buildings with passage arches facing Nikolskaya Street and Teatralny Proezd; The façade of the building from Teatralny Proezd was built into the Kitai-Gorod wall next to the tower (1534–1538) and was designed in a romantic-medieval spirit. There were shops inside the passage. Such an urban planning solution is unique for Moscow. The new design was named Tretyakovsky Proezd.

The Dictionary defines charity as “free actions and actions aimed at public benefit.” In relation to the life of Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, I would like to add: “and which will never be forgotten.”

The character of Pavel Mikhailovich retained some features reminiscent of the merchant traditions of his family and personal experience. Fortunately for the great cause - the creation of the gallery, he was completely disinterested, guided by the interests of Russia and Russian culture, directed to the benefit of a great cultural endeavor. Tretyakov got used to respecting his word and did everything to conduct business with artists honestly and openly, instilling in them faith in the solidity and strength of the work he had undertaken - the creation of a gallery of Russian painting.